Saying Goodbye

On Monday we said goodbye to Ren, our homestay student. After living with us for two years it was like saying goodbye to a son and brother. We are going to miss him very much and our hearts ache not knowing if we will ever see him again. Journey in particular, is finding it difficult to accept another loss.

Sol

It used to be that Sol was quiet and serene. I couldn't really use those words to describe him now. Ever since turning 3 he has become somewhat of a 'class clown'. He doesn't seem to be able to control what is coming out of his mouth ... even in the midst of being disciplined he will spout off things like "no, you a poo poo head" or "you a crummy bummy" and stuff like that. He's not saying it as a 'put down' he just likes talking about poo and bums. He says it with a smile and always laughs like its the funniest thing. When getting dressed he loves to flop around and let you do all the work while he sings a crazy song or cracks himself up with jokes only he gets. On numerous occasions while speaking sternly to him about stopping some behavior or another he has walked up to me and grabbed my finger (usually pointed at him in anger) and put it in his mouth. Or he'll come up to me (if I'm crouched) and bite me on the nose (gently) before I have a chance to realize what he's doing. Again, this happens when I am chastizing him about something ... he just doesn't get it. I find myself repeating, "Sol, there is a time to be silly and a time to be serious. THIS is a time to be serious!!" He does make me laugh, though. I wish you could all spend a day in his presence to really be able to understand what I am trying to describe. He's priceless and I wouldn't trade him for anything ... but some days its harder to see the humor than others.

Summer Fun

Mom or Sara (or both) gave Sol this splashy tube thing for Sol's birthday and we finally got it set up this week. The kids LOVE it. When you step on it the spray gets higher.

Mommy, I still have two grammas!!

Journey misses her 'bump gramma' terribly, and talks about her all the time. We often muse about what she might be doing in heaven or how she would love to be here to see Journey riding a two wheeler or going to school ... A few weeks ago at church Journey met a lady who reminded her of bump gramma. Something about her hair ...
Anyway Journey just fell in love and wanted to sit on her lap and snuggle with her (a perfect stranger, really!!) and told me she loved her so much she could just LIVE with her. The lady told Journey she could call her 'gramma Stickel' and took our number telling Journey she'd call her sometime and they could have tea or something. Journey could not stop talking about her and asking if we could call her and invite her over. She was so excited to have two grammas again! I tried to hold her off not knowing quite how to handle the situation or how involved the lady really was willing to be... Then we ran into her again at the museum days .. she was churning butter as a demonstration. Journey kept asking to go back to that display and just wanted to hang out with gramma Stickel the whole time. When we were going to leave for the day she insisted on going and giving her a hug good-bye. She took our number again and promised to call Journey. Then last night when we got back from rehearsals there was a message on our phone inviting Journey to go golfing in the morning. She was THRILLED. And despite some clouds and a few spats of rain Journey and 'gramma' Stickel went off to do nine holes of golf at our local course. Please pray with us that this will be a helpful, hopeful relationship for the both of them. (and every one involved)

A Day at the Museum

Every year our town has a special 'museum day' and lets everyone in for free! They have demonstrations of old fashioned wool making, blacksmithing, ice cream and butter making, rope tying, etc. There's lots of free food and entertainment and a petting zoo for the kids. This year Mr. Tupper (Garron's childhood neighbor) gave us a ride in his antique car (model T, I think) Sol loved it!

More rehearsal pics

In some of these scenes you see me (Amy) as Jairus's servant breaking the news to him that his daughter has died. The man in the light blue tunic is Jesus who is telling Jairus not to be afraid but to 'believe'. In one pic you can see Journey walking with one of her new friends, Danelle. Danelle is in our 'tribe' and so we get to hang out with her alot and Journey has taken a fancy to her. Our tribe is the tribe of Zebulun ... they divided the crowd into the tribes of Judah in order to have an easier time of 'directing' us. This way instead of having to direct every individual crowd member they can say, "Zebulun, you are going to enter from stage left and go here and do this..." etc, etc. It works really well. The first picture is Sol on our way home from rehearsal Sunday night ... unfortunately we had to wake him up to give him a bath before bed as he was completely filthy after a hot, sweaty weekend on that dusty set.

Rehearsal pics

Rehearsals go Saturdays from 10am until 9:30 pm with a short lunch break and about 2 1/2 hours off for supper. Then we get back at it Sunday at noon and run till 5:30pm. They are long, hot days of running and rerunning scenes. It can get tedius especially when you are waiting and waiting for other people to work out a scene and you have to stand on stage in the hot sun and just WAIT. But it has been wonderfully rewarding as well. I have found myself getting goosebumps and even tears at some of the healing scenes and scenes where Jesus interacts with the crowds/Pharisees.

Riding Fun

Journey and Sol LOVE to ride their bikes up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. They can only go from property line to property line but they make great use of that little stretch of pavement! Sol likes to demonstrate his 'no hands' capabilities and Journey likes to practise making turns on her two wheeler without getting off.

Planting flowers for Gramma

The other day we decided to pack a snack and go visit bump gramma. There isn't a gravestone there yet but it is on order. There weren't any flowers either so we decided we needed to 'plant' some. We thought it best to plant fake ones so they would last and I let Journey pick out which ones she wanted. She chose one big flower and one little bird. Bump gramma loved to watch the birds come to her feeder and birdbath and so we thought she might like to have a little wren watching over her grave. Unfortunately when we went back a couple of days later we discovered that the gophers didn't like the bird and had chewed its face off.

Celebration Cones!

After school we went out for some icecream .. Journey ordered 'bubblegum' flavor and was disappointed to find out that her portion didn't have any actual gum balls in it. But it was good anyway and we had fun together.

In the classroom

Journey listened to the teacher (whose name is Mrs. Moos ... pronounced Moose) hee hee, and played with the other kids (even asking them to play WITH her!!). I think she's gonna do just fine!

Trial Run for Kindergarten

Though she looks a tad nervous in this pic Journey was actually very excited and eager to go to Kindergarten for her 'trial run'. She didn't show any signs of hesitation and took to all the activities like a seasoned student.

More Camping/play pics

Camping/Passion Play

Our family joined the Passion Play this summer! We get to camp out at a special 'cast/crew only campground' and rehearse each weekend from May 31st to July 10th after which we will have two weekends of performances. We had no idea what to expect but have been pleasantly surprised at how interesting and engaging the rehearsals have been and how incredibly diverse and encouraging the cast and crew are to be around. There are 140+ cast right now and we will be joined by about 70 summer school students next weekend. This is the largest cast they've ever had, I think...and it is quite something to see how they tackle directing us all at rehearsals. Really very organized and prompt. The kids think its awesome and are making lots of new friends. Journey especially loves the Jewish songs and dances she gets to do.

Birthday Fun

We played Pin the numbers on McQueen, opened lotsa neat gifts, and had a McQueen Pinata.

Cruise Day

Our local 'Cruise Day' coincided with Sol's birthday this year. Cruise Day is when lots of classic cars and trucks come to town to show off. We told Sol that Daddy had arranged for lots of fancy cars to come to his birthday ... (not sure how Daddy will top this one) and he was thrilled to walk around and see everything. Grampa was there helping keep things orderly (as a member of the local fire department) and Sol and Journey took the chance to get a pic with Grampa up on 'his' fire truck.

Sol's cake

Garron likes to make the kid's cakes and he doesn't like them to be boring. This year he made Lightning McQueen ... it was crafted and carved by hand and from scratch. If painting falls through he has a second career waiting in the wings.

Kelsey - future Canadian Idol?

Our neice Kelsey just finished 'Festival' and got outstanding marks for her vocal performances. She is a beautiful singer and so natural ... a joy to watch and listen!

Pics from our trip to Lloydminster

Journey LOVES her cousin Cara! We all do. On the May long weekend we went up to Lloyd to visit Garron's brother and family and Cara spent almost all of the time entertaining Journey. They played 'melting beads', littlest pet shop, watched movies, made mud pies outside, read stories ... Cara is a wonderful babysitter!

Sol posing for our new camera

Yay!! We got a new camera on the May long weekend! Now we can take pics and get back to blogging. Our old camera was so frustrating (took at least 5 seconds to 'snap' a shot) Sol is 3 years old now and a real joy. He loves to kiss and hug and tell you he loves you.

Pics from our week in the mountains

Picnic with Garron's Brother and Family

Beach Bums

Front Porch Siesta

Journey loves our front porch. On sunny days its REALLY warm and bright. She reads, plays, and snuggles Lamby in her make-shift bed.

Family Photo

Cousins

Garron's brother Darren (and family) came down from Lloyd for a few days to video 'My Fair Lady' for me. Sol and Journey enjoyed playing with their older cousins Kelsey and Cara. Its too bad they live so far away cuz they would be awesome babysitters!!

Sol's Birthday: 2 Years Old!!

Sol is infatuated with cars and trains and so that was our birthday theme. He was thrilled with all the gifts and cake and games. He took time after opening each gift to thank the giver and play with it for awhile. His genuine 'oohs and ahhs' were so precious and made everyone feel they'd given him the world.

More Museum Pics

Museum Discovery Days

While Garron and I were on a date in Calgary, gramma and grampa Rish (and Auntie Sharon) took Journey and Sol to our Three Hills Museum 'Discovery Days'. They had lots of fun making rope, petting the animals, tasting the homemade goodies and exploring the old vehicles.

Journey is an old pro at planting potatoes. She helped with all of it but her favorite part is definitely the watering!

We discovered this year that Sol loves to garden! He had a great time putting the potatoes in straight lines, covering them with dirt and watering them afterward. Now everytime we go to grammas he has to check the garden to see how his plants are doing.

Playing Catch Up

Mom's been after me to change my blog so I'm going through my pics today and trying to get caught up. The following are some photos from a few family outtings this spring and some of the kids just hanging out and having fun.

Picnic in the back yard ... a favorite activity for me and the kids.

I was very glad I brought the bike and trailer to camp this year. It made getting around with the kids so much quicker and easier. They loved to hang out in there even when we weren't going anywhere, too.

From day one Journey made it clear that she wanted to ride the horses. She had a brief pony ride on Sunday and then on Thursday we signed up for horses as our main afternoon activity. She wasn't scared a bit and insisted on riding one of the big ones instead of a pony. The instructor had them play a few games on horse back (Simon Says, What Time Is It Mr. Wolf, and Red Light Green Light) She did great! Even wanting to trot during What Time Is It Mr. Wolf. I think Mor Mor is gonna have to give some lessons this summer.

Family Camp at River's Edge
We took our little tent trailer and camped on the edge of a hill overlooking the Rockies. It was beautiful and hot. Garron stayed through the weekend and then went back to work while me and the kids kept camping till the end of the week.